Whoopi Goldberg during one of her tirades against the “racist” conservatives, sometime in the last year or two, said something along the lines of “Yeah, the Founding Fathers were so great they thought blacks were only worth 3/5 of a person!” I remember thinking how disappointing it was that Whoopi, who seems thoughtful and intelligent most of the time (except when she’s ranting) didn’t know the real story behind the “Three-Fifths Compromise”. But I’ve realized that this is one of those moments in history that’s been so scrubbed of the truth by the revisionists that the real facts are barely decipherable.
 
Case in point, here’s an opinion piece by John Moore (must be Michael’s brother) at National Post (Canada) deriding the Tea Party:
 

Not all Tea Partiers are crazy, but all the crazies seem to be in the Tea Party…
…This largely Christianist (sic) movement has extended its Biblical literalism to the American Constitution, a document its adherents regard as perfect. Even when it comes to the passage ranking a black man as having three fifths the value of a white man, they argue it was actually an ingenuous poison pill designed by the founding fathers to bring about the timely end of slavery.

 
Thank you genius. Let’s check the facts shall we?

• Unfortunately, as we all know, at the time the Constitution was drafted slavery existed in the southern American states, where slaves were considered property.
 
• Outrageously, the southern delegates to the Constitutional Convention proposed that each slave be counted when it came to apportioning congressional districts, effectively giving the south more representation (even though slaves weren’t even considered citizens, let alone given the right to vote); yet not be counted as property for taxation purposes.
 
• Heated debate ensued with some delegates threatening to leave the convention. But clearly, the southern delegates couldn’t have it both ways.
 
• James Madison came up with what has come to be called the “Three-Fifths Compromise”. It was agreed that five slaves be counted as three persons for both representation and tax purposes.
 
During the debates attempts were made by several Convention delegates to end the slave trade. The Founding Fathers were not, as the Left frequently implies, a bunch of racist slave owners.
 
Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration, speaking at a convention of Abolition Societies several years after the Constitution was ratified, represented a position held by many of the Founders:

“Slavery is repugnant to the principles of Christianity…It is a practical denial of the extent and efficacy of the death of a common Savior. It is a usurpation of the prerogative of the Great Sovereign of the universe, who has solemnly claimed an exclusive property in the souls of men.”

[Gee – bet Mr. Moore didn’t have a clue that Abolition was a “largely Christianist movement”!]

 
By taking history of out of context, ignoring half the facts and twisting the rest, the Left builds their entire world view on a warped foundation.
 
So here’s my proposal – until they can exhibit a clear knowledge and firm understanding of American history, I say that we should only count 3/5 of each Leftie vote. Perhaps we can prevent them from doing any further damage to the Constitution and the Republic.
 
Even better, once they do understand and appreciate the uniqueness of America they won’t be Lefties anymore!